The following are the outputs of the real-time captioning taken during the virtual Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), from 2 to 17 November 2020. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings at the event, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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>> Good morning. Can we two a quick test for Excellency ECOSOC President. Excellency. And sound test for the Commissioner of industry and start‑up from Government of Germany.
>> It's Rudolf, can hear me?
>> Yes, can hear you.
>> Our camera is a little bit ‑‑ (overlapping speakers).
>> Mr. Akram, ECOSOC president, can we have someone from his office to advise us with audio and video.
>> I'm from the mission of Pakistan. You have to probably put him as a panelist. He is still the President of the ECOSOC, is not a panelist. But he is there if you want to do the test.
>> Can you see the ECOSOC President's name?
>> I cannot see.
>> Check if he is in his own name or another name we should look out for. We are going live in about 30 seconds.
>> I promoted Mr. Akram.
>> Ambassador Akram, can we test? Yes, thank you, sir.
>> We can hear you well. Thank you. We are ready to roll. Luis, stand by. (pause)
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Hello, good afternoon. I'm the mapping director of communications of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. I was a foreign correspondent and presenter, and I'll be moderating the session. I've been to physical IGFs, Internet Governance Forum. Today of course we are meeting virtually. This will be the Opening Session of the 15th annual Internet Governance Forum. It's a great pleasure to be with you over the next 90 minutes or so. We have a fantastic group of panelists, we will be hearing from them about the big issues, that really focus on the Internet today and of course we are speaking to you primarily and in many cases from our homes, not from offices, and this issue of the Internet Governance has never been more important during the COVID age, I'm speaking to you from London from my home where we are in lockdown. That is why the Internet has become ever more important.
We will have a panel in a few minutes time, but we are going to start with opening speeches, and I'd like to invite the Under‑Secretary‑General for Economic and Social Affairs of the UN to take the stage. Can you hear me, ZhenminLiu. Under‑Secretary‑General, can you hear us? Under‑Secretary‑General, are you there?
>> CHENGETAI MASANGO: Technical difficulties, we will try to get him on line. Give us about 30 seconds. Thanks.
>> ZHENMIN LIU: I'm connected.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: It is over to you for you to start our speeches before we come to the panel.
>> ZHENMIN LIU: Thank you for that introduction, Jonathan. Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all friends and colleagues from the world. On behalf of the United Nations Secretary‑General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, I welcome you to this opening of the 15th Internet Governance Forum and high level leaders dialogue. Due to a schedule conflict, the Secretary‑General is not able to join us at this Opening Session. But we will have the honor of his address at the closing session next Tuesday. Due to COVID‑19, this year's Internet Governance Forum is being convened online virtually together. This virtual IGF is being hosted by the United Nations with the support of the UN family. We have thousands of participants registered online, all around the world, in various channels. For today's Opening Session, I have on the invite His Excellency Ambassador President of United Nations General Assembly to address IGF.
>> VOLKAN BOZKIR: Mr. Antonio Guterres, Excellencies, distinguished guests, thank you for the opportunity to address the 15th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. I thank the Secretary‑General for convening this important and topical discussion (pause) His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres Secretary‑General of the United Nations, Excellencies, distinguished guests, thank you for the opportunity to address the 15th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum IGF. I would like to thank the Secretary‑General for convening this important and topical discussion, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to be direct. The SDG target of achieving universal connectivity by 2020 has not been met. In fact, 3.6 billion people continue to lack access to the Internet. Only 19 percent of people in least developed countries have access to Internet, in stark contrast to the 87 percent in developed countries. The digital divide is exacerbating existing inequalities, more men use the Internet than women in two out of three months. All of this is only complicated and compounded by COVID‑19 which has underscored the depth of this divide which is eroding development gains in countries and communities that are disconnected from the rest of the world. Deprived from a important means of development, an adaptation to this pandemic, these countries and communities are at risk of losing an entire generation's worth of hard work, development gains. While it can be argued that the decade of action and delivery has been derailed by the pandemic, quite the opposite can in fact be true. We can use this moment and opportunity afforded by COVID recovery efforts to fast track progress globally, to invest in a sustainable recovery, that is guided by the SDGs. Addressing the digital divide is a significant part of this, as a SDG accelerator, improved digital access will have dividends across the whole of the SDGs, expanding access to education and employment, and boosting progress in the areas of good governance and gender equality. Likewise, increased connectivity has the potential to boost economic growth and create new markets in Fintech or mobile banking amongst others. Another SDG accelerator and one that is directly linked to the increased connectivity is the need to address unequal access to reliable and renewable energy, with the UN high level dialogue on energy in September, 2021, the Internet Governance Forum provides opportune moment to explore the interlinkages between these issues and to chart a path forward. Ladies and gentlemen, as you go through your deliberations, I ask that you consider these issues and to ask yourselves this. What are the primary challenges impeding implementation at the multilateral, regional and local levels? What kind of partnerships on digital issues have been most effective?
Before closing, allow me to say this, we cannot and should not be satisfied to live in a world where half of the population is more connected than at any time in history, while the other half is left out and disconnected. I thank you for the opportunity to address the Forum, and I wish you the best in your deliberations. Thank you very much.
>> ZHENMIN LIU: Thank the President of the General Assembly for his opening remarks and for his strong support to IGF. Now I have the honor to invite His Excellency the President of ECOSOC, President of Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, His Excellency to address IGF, Ambassador, you have the floor.
>> AMBASSADOR AKRAM: Thank you, Under‑Secretary‑General and thank you for the invitation to speak to this 2020 meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. The fact that this virtual 15th session of the forum hosted by the United Nations is being held virtually is one indication of the power of digital technologies to bring people together and search for solutions to sustainable development in these most difficult times. Digital technologies have made unprecedented progress possible. Yet, this progress has been unequal. Digital governance is critical. The latest research shows the high levels of concentration of resources, skills and capacities needed to leverage digital transformation, and this research indicates the risk that further digitalization and data driven development will lead to widening digital divides and income inequalities. We need stronger efforts so that national and international digital governance keeps up with accelerating technological change. Gaps in digital governance could quickly become bottlenecks for the application of frontier technologies for Sustainable Development. This is particularly visible if you see the megatrends in this sphere. One, the explosive growth of data volumes and crossborder flows. Second, the dominance of the ICT business environment by huge data management corporations. Three, the fast pace and unprecedented change and unpredictable change in digital technologies. And fourth, the ever stronger force with which digitalization drives and sets the course of economic, social and cultural change. The private sector which owns 70 percent of the ICT infrastructure, has an important responsibility. It is essential to address some of the policies and issues relating to the big technology companies, including tax policies, transfer pricing, free and fair trade, Cybersecurity, and cyber crimes, as well as the propagation of violence and hate over the Internet.
Ensuring privacy, security and responsible management of data is also fundamental, some other areas where truly inclusive international governance processes could bring significant benefits include financial inclusion and online health services. The long standing challenge that should remain a critical focus for digital governance is the fight against the digital divides. As the President of the assembly has mentioned, 87 percent of individuals in developed countries are connected, only 19 percent are so connected in the least developed countries.
The COVID‑19 crisis highlights the profound inequity of the digital divide, where half the world is using the Internet to stay connected, and continue business, while the other half is living literally in another world, disconnected and unempowered. This is why I believe that we, the developing countries, must aim not only to catch up, but to leapfrog into the digital era, focusing on broadband, 5G, artificial intelligence, and getting on board the knowledge economy. We should strive to ensure that the IGF continuously improves this space for developing countries to be heard and to be at the table in evolving digital governance. Credible and effective digital governance cannot exist without truly inclusive and participatory approaches. The participation of actors from developing countries is essential and must be better supported. Economic and Social Council's commission on science and technology and development office, one indispensable space for inclusive consideration of digital governance issues, so does the SDI Forum which will be convened next year, again to consider digital and other technological advances. Ladies and gentlemen, the development challenges of digitalization require a coordinated multilateral response that draws on the respective comparative advantages of each actor in the international Arena. The UN Secretary‑General's roadmap offers a good pathway to bridge the digital divide. I wish you all success in your consideration of this critical issue of the world today. Thank you.
>> ZHENMIN LIU: Thank you, Mr. President, we are going to report IGF discussion. Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, allow me now to share some brief points about this year's IGF before we move to the high level staff. The 2020 IGF is convened against a backdrop of COVID‑19, under the theme, Internet for human resilience and solidarity. While digital technologies were available prior to the onset of the pandemic, the impact of COVID‑19 has laid bare the importance of Internet based technologies for our livelihoods. Indeed, we have seen significant digital transformation over the past months, and this digital acceleration is likely to continue, last year in Berlin the Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres together with Chancellor Merkel called on us to build a IGF into a platform where all stakeholders can come together to share policy expertise, debate emerging technology issues, agree on some basic common principles, and take these ideas back to the appropriate Forum. This year in the virtual world I'm happy to see that we are continuing to work together in transforming the IGF into the vision that the Secretary‑General laid out in Berlin. This year's program includes more than 200 sessions that focus on four main thematic strikes, environment, inclusion, and trust, and data. High level leaders track for this Opening Session, discussions will be centered around Internet Governance in age of uncertainty. Tomorrow's parliamentary panel will be on building trust in age of COVID‑19 response and how the international community can recover better.
Last week, as part of the pre‑event programs, the IGF 2020 Global Youth Summit was successfully organized. The IGF is providing a platform for youth to have their say in setting global Internet policy as the leaders of future generations. As we continue with our dialogue, I encourage all participants to keep in mind four issues.
First, let us not lose sight of the digital divides. In the least developed countries, only 19 percent individuals were online in 2020, in 2019, we are leaving a large majority behind. We need solutions that help bridge the digital divide, so that the benefit of the digital technologies can reach those being left behind unconnected. Second, let us eliminate the gender digital divide. In all regions of the world, especially in LDC countries, more men than women are using the Internet. Eliminating this divide should be mainstreamed into women's empowerment initiatives.
Third, let us make sure that the Internet is economically within reach for all, access is still a big challenge for many, even for this virtual IGF, there are participants who want to join, but are struggling to get connected.
Fourth, it is time to invest more in digital literacy and capacity development. More people struggle to connect due to lack of digital skills, and some are missing relevant content in their local languages. I'm aware that IGF community has been working together to find solutions to these problems. Let me assure you that the UN family will intensify our efforts to make the positive impact in this endeavor. The United Nations department of economic and social affairs UNDESA remains fully committed to digital cooperation and most importantly to work with IGF stakeholder in groups to continue strengthening IGF. I wish you a productive meeting and successful session. I thank you. Now I'll give the floor back to our moderator, Jonathan.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Mr. Liu, thank you very much indeed, undersecretary general for economic and social affairs and apologies for the technical problems we had at the beginning, not just with your wi‑fi, my own as well, there is something ironic about talking about connectivity, but it does show there are many challenges left, of course to be faced in terms of having the Internet in a way that is accessible for everybody in many different ways, and we are now starting our high level discussion. Let me introduce our panel. We have with us Doris Leuthard, former President of Switzerland Chair of the Swiss Digital Initiative Foundation, the Commissioner for digital affairs and also start‑ups in the German, the Minister for economy, civil service and communications from Fiji, Houlin Zhao, international telecommunications Secretary‑General, if executive director, association for progressive communications, director for Sustainable Development at Colombia university, Victoria Grand, global policy and communication head of WhatsApp, Pamela Cretu, youth representative, Paul Tighe, Holy See, joining us from the Vatican. Welcome to all of you. We are going to be discussing this issue of how to improve Internet Governance and of course it comes at a critical time when the Internet has never been more important, with all of us working more digitally in the current COVID crisis. What needs to be done? I'd like to start by asking you all a simple question, which is in which areas of people's lives do you see the biggest impact of digital transformation and Sustainable Development. Doris Leuthard, perhaps I can ask you first of all.
>> DORIS LEUTHARD: Thank you very much, I think every part of our lives will be changed by digital technologies. But I think the biggest issue we will see in communication, the proof is our conference, which is virtual, which was not in the past a reality. Communication from companies, within companies, from governments, between organizations, all these will change a lot our societal behavior and our way of communication and learning together. We can come together easily from all over the planet. That is I think a big change. But also a big challenge. Big thing is finances, I think cash is an old‑fashioned element. We have today also due to COVID a lot of people using credit cards, using their mobile phone, especially also in developing countries, we see a lot of change, many people did not have a bank account before in the classical financial sectors. Today with a lot of possibilities, we see small businesses evolving, we see a lot of people now can transfer money, can handle their bills, whatever it means, so this is very important also for global trades and for global economy.
Third, I think the world today is a shopping center, e‑commerce involved very large and here we see a lot of opportunities for developing countries, when they have access to these technologies, but this might change a lot of businesses we used in the past, and for this we need very well educated people, that they know the technologies and also in my age, my generation, we must also here, invest in new education so that we don't have a digital divide between young people who are used to use all these applications and our generation.
Actually now roadmap we have presented to the Secretary‑General last year at High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, we mentioned a lot of this transformation, how we can build a more inclusive world and what should be done. Actually, I'm very happy that the Secretary‑General presented this roadmap, how we can strengthen, develop the ecosystem of digital cooperation and governance in the spirit of IGF plus and in the spirit of the SDGs. Perhaps we can later go in more details.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much indeed, Doris Leuthard, for kicking us off there. Let me come to Thomas Jarzombek from the German Parliament, Commissioner for digital economy. Where do you think the answer to this question lies about where we might see the biggest impact of digital transformation and Sustainable Development?
>> THOMAS JARZOMBEK: Thank you for the opportunity to talk here, and also to stress that we are very thankful for the opportunity, last year, to organizing the IGF here in Berlin, and all of our team has good impressions about last year and I hope it was a good opportunity for the whole ecosystem to have a dialogue, and we truly believe that IGF has a very important role, and we truly believe in the multistakeholder approach that the IGF also stands for, and German Government even in the year after organizing the IGF will foster all these initiatives and we believe it's very important to have a worldwide, free and open Internet. This is what I believe is the most relevant take out of COVID‑19, because we have seen that COVID‑19 is a boost for digitalization, especially for the more major economies in the world like ours, and all the European economies are, we can see that we have always huge debate about challenges and opportunities of the Internet. We should look more on the opportunities, and not only on the challenges. Before COVID‑19 we had a big dispute about is everybody included in all these technologies and is everybody capable of using that, and what about privacy and so on and so on. We learned overnight with COVID‑19 that things are possible that seemed unimaginable before. Despite all the down sides of COVID 19 to people that are harmed about that and businesses that are harmed through COVID‑19 I believe there are also big opportunities and digitalization is one of them. As I said we believe in free and open Internet. I believe this is also a big contributor from more sustainability, the opportunity to talk freely and open together, and we are concerned about some of these developments, about a fragmented Internet. We believe a open Internet is key.
Therefore, we will bring in ourselves and in the whole way of enabling more opportunities here also in this format of this IGF, we have organized a digital strategy in the German Government, digitalization it values, and this is important for us. No matter whether it's a question of competition or market access of handling personal data, freedom of opinion or any other field we need the best possible policy environment for all online lives. A communication of nations companies, the IGF is the right Forum in which to discuss this in detail as cochampion and consultation process of the future, we have presented a options paper. It is important for us and our aim is to stimulate and structure the debate for a evolution of the multistakeholder model towards a IGF plus. I look forward to a inspiring discussion. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. One question before you go, you talked about transformation, and I wonder how much of a leap forward you thought we had made during this crisis, COVID crisis, people talk about a massive leap forward for the age of digital.
>> THOMAS JARZOMBEK: We have seen a big push overnight. I think this is a good development. If you look at all these continents, I believe Europe has more potential on digitalization as it's realizing right now. Therefore, our Government is trying to push that forward with the digital strategy. We also fostered a start‑up ecosystem, we have a AI strategy. We are focusing on blockchain, we believe quantum commuting is a need we are going to invest, there is innovation potential all over the world and Europe especially.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you. We will come back to you for another question later on. Let's move to Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum, minister for economy, civil service and communications in Fiji. Let me ask you, where do you see from where you are sitting there in the Pacific the biggest impact of digital transformation and Sustainable Development.
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: On a couple fronts, the speaker mentioned about aspects of digital money wallets, that made a ... mainstream them, in particular bring them to access services that previously could not access. You have to remember that we are about 330 islands, a hundred to 110 are inhabited. We bring connectivity to them and the cost of connectively can be expensive, given the economies of scale. Notwithstanding that, we have been able to focus on funding in those areas. Government services, rolling it out to rural areas, social welfare payments, E ticketing for transportation, the pensioners, disabled persons, etcetera. Also with COVID‑19, we have got now 202 days without any new COVID transmissions. We have been very stringent, introducing digital platforms. It is important for us because our economy depends on tourism. Revenue streams have come down significantly. As a result, we have to run technology, to roll out services, so people are more acutely aware about using those tools to be able to access services in that environment. Last but not least is climate change. Goal 13 talks about, under the SDGs, ability to demilitarize issues of climate change. In terms of communications, particularly the out islands early warning systems, that is critically important for us.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: You mention the high cost of installing and making sure there is access around the islands. What help could the international community give there?
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: There is a number of ways that we could do that. We have set up for example.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Can hear me?
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: Yes, I can.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Maybe not. Let's move on. Let me move on to Houlin Zhao from the International Telecommunications Union.
>> HOULIN ZHAO: Can you hear me? Yes, very good. Thank you. Dear friends, I'm pleased to join you at this panel discussion. I really like IGF, what I have heard so far, is everything I want to communicate. Now you communicated to the public. So that instead of me and I heard many similar messages from all of you, that is wonderful. I want to remind us, today we consider everything is granted like, without ICT, the society will become worse, very terrible. But with ICT seem to be that we can manage our life facing this COVID‑19. But don't forget, this ICT services and applications are available to us since 15 years or 20 years hard work of ICT workers and all of you. IGF together with WSIS Forum are two consequences of what WSIS process, and I suggest to organize in Geneva, in Tunis, we try to incorporate, to do the best to build up Information Society, and people may not realize how important that should be, today, COVID‑19 force us to come to this society with ICT. This is something that is important to remember. Thanks to the hard work of everybody, we have this ICT infrastructure, we have this ICT applications.
But for example privacy, for example confidentiality, and security of our tools like Zoom, like Team, like Interprefy, all this telemedicine, is it safe or not. Today we first ask it's possible for us to use or not. Then you ask the security, quality of services. But all this is available to those who are connected, we should not forget that, as Chairman of ECOSOC just mentioned, half the world not connected yet and how can we bring people be connected. That is very big challenges. Secretary‑General call for everybody to be connected by 2030 with affordable prices, and imagine half population not connected yet, we have only ten years to go. If we do best like before you will never get it. We have to do something, more smart and innovative. Your high level digital panel can give us a lot of wonderful ideas. This is absolutely very strategically important to all of us. But I think that to do, let me give you an example, for each country, you have several Telecom operators, and Telecom operator invest in ICTs. For you to get the children comfortable during this COVID‑19 with tele‑education, you need to have very good infrastructure for connecting to the family, you have to go for the education Minister to go to all the Telecom operators to have arrangement, and for the education like that, everybody do the same thing, so that is my message, we have to change our mind, if we continue to do business as before, you will never get the business done by 2030, to connect everybody. You have to change your mind, to engage everybody, to work with the common strategy to put ICT really at the focal point to be supporter, to support development, not to leave this to each Ministry to do their business with their own project, to use ICT to improve their own efficiency, but if we put everybody together, I think that will be much efficient.
That was my message to the financial Minister, foreign ministers. I put four Is as my priority since 2015, when we celebrate IGF 150th anniversary, and I put since that moment, infrastructure is absolutely important. We have to extend to connect those who are not connected. We have the upgrade with 5G, AI, all this, we need infrastructure and we need investment. We need investment to improve capability of Africa, from current penetration, for one year we need at least one billion dollars, we have to find the money. At the current rate the money is mainly coming from private sector. The public needed to create good environment to attract investment and to encourage investment and create a good environment. Then we need to have innovation. Innovation, we have to get smarter policy environment with innovative ideas. Innovation is not only for technologies, but also for this kind of policy environment. We need good innovation. Of course, last I is inclusiveness. When I was in Geneva, I heard from Swiss television saying that the people in the mountains don't know how to use Internet, they are asking to stay at home, they cannot go out. But the local community tried to bring them food, the vegetable to their door, but then they have to pay them and the senior citizen don't have money because they are used to going to the machine to get money, but they don't know how to use the Internet to order food. This is also some kind of things that we only see under this COVID‑19 situation. COVID‑19, we are asked to do a lot of things. I think that we have opportunity.
This IGF meeting is absolutely critical for us, because that is, this is the platform we can invite everybody to come together to look at challenges, to look at ideas to move forward. This year marks the 15th anniversary of IGF, of course it's 15 years of WSIS Forum. We would like to continue to use this platform to encourage more investment in ICT infrastructure, innovation and then to bring the benefit of ICT to everybody, not leave anybody behind. Sorry to take so much time.
Let me just stop here. The last message, I know in my panelist I have one from Holy See. I visited the Pope, the father told me, I visited him in his office in September, 2017, so he clearly supported the ICT to facilitate ICT infrastructure development, to facilitate the socioeconomic development. He was so kind to give me strong message I delivered at the World Telecommunication Conference in Argentina in September, in October, that he support ICT. He particularly pay attention to those disabled people, immigration, the people that suffer from this immigration, refugees. We are very pleased with his message. We have to work hard to mobilize every possible resources to focus on this ICT development, and IGF is the right place. It's very good platform. Thank you very much.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Houlin Zhao, thank you very much indeed. You were talking about the need to invest in infrastructure, the issues that London is having today for example where I am show that with so many people working at home in lockdown, clearly the infrastructure struggles to cope with that. You are seeing that in the drop outs I'm having, it's something many people experienced in various cities during this particular crisis.
Before I came to you, I was asking Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum a question from Fiji, I hope you are still there, Minister, in Fiji which is about what you thought the international community might be able to do to help you in Fiji bearing in mind that you have hundreds of islands to roll out infrastructure to.
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: Definitely. For example, we have a project with the World Bank, the World Bank funded us our ability to be able to connect the largest island, there are a number of areas where you have unconnected people, particularly around coves and gullies up on various small islands. Also there is a need to work with ITU in respect of frequencies and be able to roll out the frequencies. On the other hand, we have had in terms of radio telecommunications we had the Japanese Government provide funding to roll out AM radio station in terms of better over water to get out to the remote islands. Those types of collaboration can take place. But I think it also falls within the ambit of climate change, the building of capacity to get people to be connected. It's critically important. There is a number of projects we have got, different agencies can work, depending on the area of expertise.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. I'm glad we heard that answer. It is important in terms of emerging economies. Let's move on, Houlin Zhao was talking about seeing the Pope. Let's go to the Vatican. Paul Tighe, in the Vatican of the Holy See, how is this question seen from there?
>> PAUL TIGHE: I speaks the Vatican itself is one thing but the Vatican as a center, like anybody else, we have been learning about digital transformations, as places of worship are closed and people try to keep communities alive, through the use of digital means of communication, and I suppose it's learning about that, it's not just about doing what you have done, put it on line, but digital transformation, there is a technological side to it. We have to understand the technologies. But more importantly, our interest is what is happening with digital transformations, are transforming societies, how we relate to each other, how we build a community.
I'll take three issues in particular. One is everybody has been speaking for years about how important interdependence is, high level panel reporting on digital cooperation to the Secretary‑General, but interdependence we would say not just a statement of fact, COVID reminded us how interdependent we are. But want to make a interdependence value, we see a value that exists between people, go beyond a mere tolerance of one another as we share the same space, but rather have a sense of the importance of expressing what it means to be one human family, one family that is sharing a common home and that has to work together to do that as fast as possible. Two issues in the digital transformation we have all seen I'd like to raise questions about, what is the transformation of work, where suddenly so many people are working from home.
That raises questions for us about where do we draw the lines in between separation of work and family. Within families, there has been a interesting question of how do we tease out the responsibilities for shared domestic responsibilities, when both partners are working from home. We need to reflect on some of this, as more people work from home, we lose the sense of solidarity that exist between coworkers. This is a sense in which we are all being put on to something like platform economy inadvertently. As we look to the future with the reality of perhaps more work being displaced, we need to keep a eye on the sense that work is not just financial reward, but we express our dignity, our creativity, capacity to contribute to society. In parallel with education, so much of education has moved on to online fora, the real issue, this is where the domestic digital divides between the haves and have not, those who have access to computing with wi‑fi connectivity, the distances are extenuated by what we are seeing in the field at the moment. Specifically issues where children who have access and don't have access to education, also not just providers of education but in many places that feed and care for and look after the needs of those students, all of those issues need to be attended to.
The final one of concern, as to whether those that should come close to each other and sometimes inequalities is a concern. See the photograph there, yes.
>> Is Jonathan online?
Apologies, we are aware there is connectivity issue. That is the same for some of the families this morning. Please with ask for patience for 30 seconds for moderator to get back on line.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much Paul Tighe. Let's turn to Chat Garcia Ramilo, director of Association for Progressive Communications.
>> CHAT GARCIA RAMILO: Thank you, Jonathan. One thing that we have seen in this pandemic is that we have very different contexts, however much we think that they call it inequalities that have been discussed, mentioned earlier, this is very different for everybody. Acceleration of the digital transformation has exposed the very profound availabilities of those who suffer most and this is what we need to pay attention to, if we are to address inequalities in the digital age. People and groups historically discriminated against and excluded on the base of race, class, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, is also a important thing that we need to look at. It is not only about which areas are impacted by digital transformation but also by who are affected by them. Digital technologies impacts most aspects of our lives now but in significantly different ways, because of this multiple forms of systemic and structure inequality and injustice. I want to emphasize that if we are to really look at addressing a divide and inequalities that can be magnified as was mentioned earlier by the President of the General Assembly, so already the digital divide has been mentioned, a lot of the ones who are still not connected are those who live in least developed countries, those rural women, people who live in rural areas and women, the other areas as we know, the Internet has been a space to express, to associate with others and participate in public life, this has been really empowering for many.
But the power over a digitalization and therefore on our personal data and people's interactions, have been more and more concentrated in the hands of big tech and we have seen how much a lot of people have lost jobs in this pandemic, but we have also seen the massive, the massive profit of big tech, they are the ones who are profiting so much, from people who are using platforms, etcetera. That is a reality that we I think must look at if we are to address inequality.
They also have then, with this concentration, they have a lot of power over deciding on content, on what is on expression and public space which is now more and more has become the online space, I think it is something to really look at, if we are to really address injustice and inequality.
I also would like to reinforce the environmental impact. There are many useful uses of ICT for environmental sustainability. But the pandemic has also propelled demand for digital technologies services and platforms. This exponential production and deployment as well as ways of digital technology is a challenge for us and can contribute to climate environmental emergency. It will spare few of us, but as we know for example in the Pacific, we have heard they really are the ones in more precarious situations.
I want to emphasize here that to avoid enforcing and magnifying inequalities, we really should pay a lot of attention to understanding how this impacts differently, and that this impacts then require specific responses. It cannot be a general response, digital transformation is not necessarily all good. It needs to be thought about carefully and should include public policy interventions that promote meaningful access, yes, preserve free and open Internet, as well as reinforce human rights and also mitigate climate crisis.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much indeed, Chat Garcia Ramilo. How does all this play into development economics, let me turn to Jeffrey Sachs. How do you see this playing out?
>> JEFFREY SACHS: Great, thank you so much. What a wonderful discussion. I think everybody agrees that we are in the digital age, the technologies are really extraordinarily effective potentially for healthcare, for education, for E finance, commerce, e‑governance, and many other areas of the economy, digital is utterly disruptive, and it's absolutely accelerated, of course, this year.
So we need to face up to two basic challenges at least, two to start. One is universal access. This is not so expensive. But it can't be dragged on for the next ten or 20 years, because we can't actually expect any part of the economy to function without digital access now. We can't expect people to be effective citizens if they are not online, they won't be receiving Government services, transfers, information, being able to register for many things, so we dramatically need to accelerate access.
Fortunately, this is the most scalable technology in human history. So if we put a time line for universal coverage, within the next short number of years, we will achieve it. Now, the questions are how to finance it. First, thanks god we have Biden as President‑elect, because maybe we will have U.S. cooperation for the first time in a number of years. I would put this as a challenge to the United States, the U.S. is still the world's digital leader. It is still the controller of the most important platforms. These are monopoly platforms, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, are the portals that are the most important worldwide, they are generating unbelievable amounts of monopoly profits and wealth. The United States has a responsibility that it of course did not meet under Trump. Trump was the opposite of meeting any international obligations. Now we have at least a chance we will see whether there is some decency there. China is a wonderful investor and supplier in developing countries. I really want to encourage this, by Huawei, stop letting the United States ‑‑ the Trump attacks on China slow the access to what is the lowest cost, most effective 5G systems in the world. The U.S. was behind in this technology, so it tried to stop China from developing its partnerships, its monopoly, its investments, its diplomacy.
I hope this will stop now, because it was errant nonsense. But we absolutely need to also have China as a major investor and sharer of digital technologies, because China is actually ahead in social applications, I would say, of any country, it's got the largest group of Internet users. It's got very advanced systems for hundreds of millions of people, and it can share these effectively in the Belt and Road initiative and other places as well.
My basic point is let's set a time line not to 2030. There are a few big players in the world, the Telecom sector and big tech, that have the responsibility, it's in their interest, though we also have to tax these companies and regulate them more effectively, but we need to get to universality. Otherwise we are really going to entrench, not just an underclass but a nonclass, if you are not on line, you are not going to exist in this world, because you will not be able to function. By the way, let me just close by saying that the amount of wealth as Chat said that has gone to the top should, allow us to focus on what we are really talking about, there are now 78 tech billionaires, that have a combined net worth of $1.9 trillion, just 78 people, 1.9 trillion.
This year, those 79 people have had capital gains of $612 billion. When we say, where are we going to get the billion for Africa, this is 612 billion since January 1 for 78 people. So Mr. Bezos, Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Gates, you made fortunes this year, tens of billions of dollars, this morning Mr. Bezos is worth $194 billion, 194 personally. And I'm holding here the investigation of competition in digital markets of the house committee on the judiciary of the U.S., which shows how monopolized this sector is and how Amazon has used its monopoly power ruthlessly. This is not something where we ask how can we get a billion dollars. There is trillions out there, on just a few people. We need to get smart and not just be taken over by 78 tech billionaires in the world, but actually run a society for everybody.
This technology is for everybody. I'm not saying it's so easy. It's easier now than it was before November 3. But we are still facing real grim truths of power and wealth. But we are also lucky inheritors of the most powerful scalable technology in human history, so if we want to get everyone covered in the next five years, no problem. Absolutely no problem. Indeed, what the Telecoms' heads tell me is it's not even infrastructure. It's just who is going to pay for their household services, because the infrastructure already covers most of the world, but people aren't on line because they can't afford devices, and they can't afford the data costs.
So if we solve a few financing problems, by telling these companies that is your social license, sorry, you connect everybody. You are common carrier, you must connect everybody, period. Then we can get it done. But I think it's a wonderful discussion, and everybody is completely oriented in the right way. This is our best chance. Let me just add one more point, which is that under any circumstances, a lot of jobs are going to be lost as well as gained by these technologies. These are so efficient, they will let machines do the work of human beings. There is no question, all over the economy, we are going to lose jobs.
So we are going to have to tax the profits from these companies to share with the whole society. Otherwise, we are really going to end up with 78 people who own the whole world, which is not exactly what we want. Thanks.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thought provoking and provocative as usual. This is a good moment to hear from Victoria Grand of WhatsApp.
>> VICTORIA GRAND: Good morning, everybody. Many thanks to our organizers for working so hard to bring us together in these unprecedented times. There is no more important policy conversation today than ensuring that the Internet remains open, inclusive, secure and responsive to the needs of our time. As others have noted, because of the coronavirus today's IGF conversation is happening digitally, just like so many other important conversations that are happening around the world right now. Billions of people are turning to WhatsApp every day to have these important conversations, to talk with loved ones and friends, to work, to teach and to learn, to connect with their doctors, with therapists, to buy things from businesses during the pandemic to get what they need for their daily lives.
A survey in Indonesia found over 80 percent of consumers are using WhatsApp to shop or communicate with businesses during the pandemic to get what they need. This is happening for free. We are working hard to build new tools including the ability to make payments right in the app. Something that we have just launched in India, and that we will soon bring to Brazil, to meet this moment and to support businesses and consumers during this critical time, especially the large populations of unbanked people in so many of the countries that WhatsApp serves. Trusting that we can do all of these things and share the information that we share, the health information, the business information, the bank and credit card information, personal photos, this is all critical. Traditional approaches to Internet Governance have long been rooted in values like free expression, privacy, transparency and the rights of individuals. These values are at the heart of WhatsApp. We believe in every person's right to have a truly private conversation. We are more open and more free to express ourselves, when we know conversations aren't being recorded, collected or monitored, when what we say cannot be traced back to us. As we live more of our lives on line without question being accelerated by COVID, we should match the security and privacy we have when we connect in person and not accept that it will be weaker because it's happening digitally.
That is why we use the best, most secure technology available, end‑to‑end encryption, to protect the privacy of the 100 bill conversations that happen on WhatsApp every single day. We are proud to put this powerful technology into the hands of more than 2 billion people, again for free. We are also proud to see that platforms that offer end‑to‑end encryption are now outpacing those that don't. The vast majority of messages that are sent today are sent over end‑to‑end encryption, encrypted platforms and even platforms like Zoom are offering this technology given strong consumer demand that's arisen during COVID.
Despite this, a number of proposals have been advanced recently, very concerning proposals in liberal democracies to roll back this vital protection at precisely the time when we need it most, and make it something that you and I no longer have access to. We are seeing this in the UK, in the U.S., in Brazil, and Australia and the EU as well as in India. We are committed to fighting for encryption, it is our best front line defense for our personal security and our collective safety and security.
It is among the greatest benefits we can bring to an open, safe and free and secure Internet, because the more we connect, the more there is to protect. Thank you.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much indeed, Victoria. Finally let's hear from Pamela Cretu, our youth representative from Moldova.
>> PAMELA CRETU: Thank you for the invitation to the on the panel, it's a pleasure and honor. Let me share a few reflections. Digital transformation has had undoubtfully in the past decade a significant impact on our lives. I want to specifically touch on a few of them. Quality education which is Sustainable Development Goal number 4 has seen a tremendous transformation with the emergence of technology, from online tutorials, video lessons, eBooks, E libraries and distance learning.
All these have opened up programs to young learners from around the globe, who would otherwise be excluded. Today ICTs are used by schools and other educational establishments both to develop ICT skills, and provide innovative teaching of mathematics or foreign languages. I use interactive learning language applications to navigate in my new country. Today the COVID‑19 pandemic has affected everyone, regardless of nationality and level of education and its consequences hit the most vulnerable the hardest.
Students from privileged backgrounds supported by their parents could find their way with schools doors closed by adjusting to, rapidly adjusting to distance and remote learning. Teachers and educators from privileged backgrounds supported by their schools' administrations learned to adjust more rapidly to the new modus operandi. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds are information out when schools shut down, and both about students and their teachers. This COVID‑19 crisis has highlighted and intensified the many inequities in the education system around the globe, from access to the broadband and computer needed for online education, and supportive environments needed to focus on learning, up to the misalignment between resources and needs. Children, students and parents have to rely more on their own resources to continue learning remotely through the Internet. Teachers have to adapt to the new pedagogical concepts and modes of delivery of teaching, for which they may not have all been trained, which is significantly affecting the quality of the education provided.
However, learners in the most marginalized groups who don't have access to digital learning resources or lack the resilience and engagement to learn on their own, are at risk of falling behind. Moving forward, I believe that key stakeholders should be looking at solutions to maximize participation of everyone in the education process so that no one is left behind including children and young people with special needs. While we can acknowledge that not everyone could be provided with a laptop or computer during these difficult times, we have to ensure that communities bring together, come together to identify local solutions such as community libraries, local radios, and community support groups. Thank you.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much indeed, Pamela. Let's move on now to what is going to be a quick fire round, we have about 15, 20 minutes left. We have something else to do after this quick fire round. We want to leave time for that. I'd like to ask you all, you might want to think about this, to explain shortly in a minute maximum to each of you, what is the one policy action that you would really like to see in order to help bridge the divide, digital divide in a post COVID world, what would be the one most important thing you think needs to be done? Doris Leuthard, perhaps I could start with you.
>> DORIS LEUTHARD: I think analyze similar infrastructure is key, this means the ideas of Jeffrey Sachs might be provocative, but he is right, there are some people, some companies who earn a lot of money with our data. This must be discussed at the level of 2020 because it's a political issue, we know that OECD has fiscal elements which are discussed. Second, I think Switzerland is one of the countries, major donors for aid for development. Here we need to change our instruments, because we are still in the classical effort with lot of classical instruments or maybe it's better invest in free wi‑fi than in bridges and roads.
Third, we need a idea of plus because infrastructure is one but the Government needs to be adapted to the digital world. Multistakeholder, multidisciplinary approach, like we did today, and IGF must also open, must be more open to other experts to science and to the politicians, not a lot of ministers and Government people participate at these meetings, and governments don't like too much multistakeholder approach. So this is a game changer, a change of our minds. This is not easy for governments, but we made some recommendations, and this is a key element that it can bring a lot of people in. The World Bank report states clearly what the world could profit by a lot of people have access to the Internet, how fast we could really bring wealth to the planet. It's easily done, when you have infrastructure, governance, standards, here ITU could make a good job that you have some standards, and a lot of values, ethical values is important for this work, so far trust and ethical values we have in the analog world, most of these values are also valuable in the cyber world, but we must discuss it and perhaps also codify it, that we have some Charter, that we can rely on, and which could also help us that ethics is, we can rely on. Fake news like we have seen in the last days is a good example how it should not work, and therefore the digital initiative I preside here, we are working exactly in this field of ethics in the Internet, and not only with analysis and new reports but concrete projects, so for the moment we are developing a digital trust label that users can rely on the application which is trustworthy.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Doris Leuthard, thank you very much. You mention the ITU there. Let me go to Houlin Zhao, one policy action that you think should be adopted.
>> HOULIN ZHAO: IGF talk about Cybersecurity and privacy, we have not made much progress, although we put this on table for many years. One problem is unfortunately we do some business under the geopolitical debate. If we could avoid the geopolitical debate, but do something, put the challenges, programs on the table, for good discussion, we may be able to make some progress, one.
Another thing as Jeffrey mentioned, on one side we don't have money, we need a lot of money. On the other side, someone has a lot of money. How can we make our society be some kind of positive to do the business. We need a lot of good ideas.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Thomas, one policy action.
>> First, not all governments are skeptical about multistakeholder approach. We believe in that, to make that clear here, as Doris said something different. Our idea would be a anti fragmentation initiative. We believe in one net and one world and open and free speech. This would be our initiative, and part of this anti fragmentation initiative would be a strong antitrust initiative because I believe despite of what all the governments are doing, it is important to keep also the commercial Internet open and that means we need to fight against some of these monopolies and make the doors and windows open for new players.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you. Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum, one policy action, in Fiji.
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: For us it's important to get a level of connectivity. We increase from 60 percent coverage to 95 percent the last five years. We would like to go the last five percent. I'd love to be part of what Jeffrey Sachs noted, we could be the guinea pig in getting people connected in Fiji. Connectivity is critically important for us.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. I'll come to Jeffrey last in this round, because he can reflect on the policy actions he's heard. Let me ask Paul Tighe in the Holy See, one policy action that you would like to see.
>> PAUL TIGHE: I think ultimately, we are looking for connectivity in order to face the possibility for communication and inclusion of people in a total platform communications. The technical side is relatively easy, the economic side of that, but I'd be interested that we educate people to assure them they become fully informed in response to the technologies.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Victoria Grand, one policy action the private sector might like to see.
>> VICTORIA GRAND: Encryption is under threat around the world. One privacy action I'd like to see is ensure a more open and secure Internet by preserving the ability to operate encrypted platforms at scale. I want to acknowledge that there are real concerns about the size and power of tech companies. We understand that. Certainly more people are turning to online platforms to connect than ever before and use of these platforms is surging to meet these fundamental needs. Let's not forget though that these platforms are helping hundreds of thousands if not millions of small and microbusinesses all over the world quickly shift their business to online, being online is not just a trend but it's a matter of survival for so many of these businesses. Many of these type platforms have enabled that abilities to grow.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Chat Garcia Ramilo, your policy action you would like to see pursued.
>> CHAT GARCIA RAMILO: I want to see support for community connectivity and resilience. That is what I want to see. We need complementary models for connectivity. We cannot rely any longer on big telecommunications, because they will not go to where there is no profit. We do have models now of community connectivity. We do need policy and regulatory environments that enable these complementary models. We need those unconnected to connect themselves, because they do have that ability. We are a small organization, but we have supported and we built capacity of over a hundred community networks with other partners. There are models out there. There are regulators who are interested in these and this is what I'd like to ask, you said investment, innovation and inclusiveness, all three of these are in the community networks model for local operators based in the community.
>> HOULIN ZHAO: I highlight, the Telecom guys, there is a lot but nobody can have any success in any business if local SMEs will not support them. Look at SMEs, lot of fantastic innovation ideas, and they know the need of local community, they know technologies. They can contribute a lot. We have to count on them. Telecom, inside our business, Telecom guys has problem, they have industry fight among themselves. For me, I agree with my friend. But we have to create the environment that encourage people, that are not connected, where there is no profit, we have to create a environment to take this investment into those areas to help people. Otherwise we cannot get business, that is clear. Better ICT for better life, then we have to come together for better ideas to get ICTs.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: That is where Jeffrey Sachs's billions come in. Pamela, one what one policy action you would like to see people take.
>> PAMELA CRETU: Thank you very much. First of all, neither in Moldova or Austria have I seen youth involved in IGF discussions. If they have, they are limited. I could do more work at the UN headquarters here to bring more youth voices in the regional IGF discussions. There is a need for a youth club on the future of online and remote learning and education. That would bring together a group of youth from around the globe to discuss about the main challenges they face with the COVID‑19 pandemic and solutions they see or solutions they have tried within their communities. Once in a while, we would share the ideas of decision‑makers across important global organizations and institutions such as the UN or the global partnership on education and many others. Thank you.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Pamela, thank you very much. Jeffrey Sachs, you go last, but you have made your policy suggestion in a way which is about the use of the wealth of some people. What is the chance do you think of governments pursuing that?
>> JEFFREY SACHS: I think the issue is access, and I would recommend that within a year, every school and every clinic in the world should be connected. This is absolutely practical, and within four years, everybody can be connected. It's a matter of switching on the switches, it's a matter of basic devices, and it's a matter of basic financing. With Chat, I want to say regulations can make companies do things. Part of the problem is that Telecoms provide the data, but the big money is earned by we chat and by Facebook and Amazon and they have to step up. So there are four people in the United States that have $540 billion of wealth including the owner of Victoria's company, four people, 540 billion of wealth. This year they have increased their wealth 204 billion. 204 billion for four people. I want Mark Zuckerberg to say what is Facebook going to do, what is his personal wealth going to do, for universal connectivity? Because it's a very good question and a very important question, and what stops us from getting every school and clinic online right now? We have hundreds of millions of kids who are not learning right now, because they have no device, they have no access, and the amounts of money we are talking about is a tiny fraction of what these people have made in the last few months, and they were already gazillionaires. So we should not be suffering so much, when there is so much capacity to solve the problem. But we have to understand where the capacity is. And it is in big tech and Telecoms which lives on this sector, makes a fortune on this sector and as Victoria said, yes, small businesses all over the world come through your portal. Exactly. So let's get on with it, and get the universal access accomplished, which we need to do to save lives and to get kids back in school.
I know that Mark Zuckerberg is interested in kids in school, let him come forward with the incredible fortune that has just occurred and today the stock market is up another 1600, last time I checked. So the fortunes are unbelievable. Let's come up with some practical answers to get every child online and every clinic online within the next year. Thanks.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Victoria, ten seconds.
>> VICTORIA GRAND: To speak to Mark Zuckerberg's investment, when Facebook acquired WhatsApp we were able to do 3 things we hadn't been able to do before. We were able to invest in bringing WhatsApp to everyone around the world for free. It is easy to forget that calling and texting people used to be incredibly and often prohibitively expensive. WhatsApp used to charge people, Facebook made it free. Facebook helped WhatsApp make WhatsApp private. It wasn't encrypted until we joined Facebook. Mark supported this project to bring that level of privacy to two billion people. Facebook invested so we could offer not just texting but voice and video calling world wide, and these have been the things that have surged most in terms of uses during the pandemic.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Time is tight.
>> JEFFREY SACHS: I like your technologies. They are a big solution for the world. Since Mark has made a extra $32 billion this year and is at 111 billion net worth, you can use your technologies and we can figure out how to get those few billion to Africa. It's not true that everyone has access to we chat, if you don't have an account and you don't have a device, you don't have access. You do in principle, but I wouldn't keep saying that everybody has access to it. That is what we are talking about today. Not everyone has access to it. Some kids are not in school this year at all, because they have no access at all. Please, with some responsibility, let's get them to school. It's possible. Technology is wonderful. No doubt.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Order, order, as they say in the British Parliament. Maybe some of these ideas will be taken up by the G20 which could be a important vehicle for this. Italy has the presidency of the G20 from January, maybe they are watching this. Maybe this is one for the G20 to move on and many of the other ideas we have heard. We have five minutes left. I'd like to ask all of you, what is your voluntary commitment that you are willing to make today to further this agenda, your personal commitment. I will start with Houlin Zhao.
>> HOULIN ZHAO: Recognize everybody and every possible resource to invest in ICT, let me give you one small example, we are talking about connected schools. Actually when 2003, 2005 WSIS finished, we set the goal to connect all the schools by 2015. Now today 2020 we are still talking about connected school. When I was close to Fiji in 2016, the two schools I visited, they had no Internet connection. I visited two years ago where they started 5G pilot, a hundred kilometers away in the mountains there is no connection at all in the Internet. This is unfortunate. This is still unfortunate reality. We have to work very hard. Connect ability to these people is one, then to increase our capacity of quality of service to 5G, cloud computing, that is another thing. ITU want to work with our industry, with our society on these important challenges. Thank you.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you. Thomas, your commitment.
>> THOMAS JARZOMBEK: First let me repeat one thing to Facebook and WhatsApp. I believe that this is for free, it's not the solution, that is the problem, because nobody else is able to compete and to bring a better alternative to WhatsApp because of this, and you are not coming for that with free. You pay with all your data. This is a high price. I can only renew what I said to antitrust. What have we done or are doing to enable the IGF so in last year, we made a significant amount of money, 650,000 U.S. dollars to have traveling for representatives from all regions and all stakeholders all over the world especially from the global south and on Day Zero the Minister underscored his commitment to the multistakeholder approach by providing 100 million U.S. dollars over the following three years. Since then we have continued our involvement in the field of Internet Governance not least as cochampion on future architecture of the IGF and this year we have again provided logistical and substantive support towards the preparation of the parliamentary round table. I believe it is good to enable more parliamentarians to be there, not only the governments.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum, Fiji, do you have a voluntary commitment you would like to make.
>> AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM: We have talked about it, data is great equalizer, but if you don't have connection, people get left behind. Connectivity is important. I was watching everybody. I think I'm the only one from the southern hemisphere, it's 2:30 a.m. in the morning here. But it goes to demonstrate that there are many countries like ours that are small. We are not big players. We don't attract big boys and girls into our economy, as it is hard to get companies in to connect. We have one or two companies here. you have to be innovative and set up trust funds, percentage of Telecom companies go towards setting up trust funds, we set up community telecenters. We are trying to get infrastructure sharing between all the different Telecom and radio and television companies, to be able to reduce the capital cost, to get more focus on service delivery. Connectivity is critical for us in that regard.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you very much. You deserve your bed when you eventually get to it in a few minutes. Monsignor Paul Tighe, voluntary commitment you would like to make?
>> PAUL TIGHE: One commitment, the Vatican would encourage churches locally, educational resources, promote digital literacy, people will be more crisply aware of the environment in which they are working and we become more committed to using those technologies to achieve growth in communication, we want to promote.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Chat Garcia Ramilo, your voluntary commitment.
>> CHAT GARCIA RAMILO: Continue to build capacity for community connectivity, that is where the growth will happen. That is where we will definitely make a difference in the divide, and we hope that the investment, we can convince and continue to knock on doors of regulators and policymakers so that they can be, they can enact policies that help build this capacity and connectivity on the community level where there is no access.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Pamela Cretu, is there something you would like to commit to?
>> PAMELA CRETU: Yes, thank you. Just to mention it again, we do need more youth voices into the original IGF related discussions, so a global youth club would be just the perfect thing. We need to ensure that communities come together to identify local solutions, such as community libraries, for example, during the pandemic, there are just empty spaces that are not used and for the children and students that do not have the devices at home, and with the right opening the windows in the room, they can use all of the infrastructure, that is already there, and that is not used. That would be all. Thank you.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: While you were speaking someone messaged big thumbs up for youth voices. Getting some support there. Quite a few of you put questions on here. Sorry we couldn't get to them due to time but they will be considered during the course of this IGF. Victoria Grand, do you have a voluntary commitment without wanting to reopen the previous rambunctious argument?
>> VICTORIA GRAND: We will continue to provide a reliable service for personal communication that works even in areas where there is low and limited bandwidth. We will fight to preserve our ability to operate on encrypted platforms to not allow anyone to listen in on WhatsApp messages. We will continue to stand up against the trend of Government hacking. We detected a attack from a NSO group that turned your phone into a surveillance device, turning on your camera without you knowing. We shut it down and sued NSO. We will continue to root out and fight governments attempts to use our platform to spy on critics, human right advocates and journalists.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Thank you. Jeffrey Sachs.
>> JEFFREY SACHS: Leave no one behind. Let's keep committing to the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the basic principle of decency in the world. I hope that we accomplish what we have all agreed needs to be done.
>> JONATHAN CHARLES: Seems like a very good phrase to end on. Thank you very much. Thank you to all of our panel. Thank you to all of you who have taken part, watching this event as well. I wish everybody a great IGF. I'm sure it's going to be interesting, lots of fascinating panels. But thank you to everyone who was involved today. From my home here in locked down London to your homes, offices, wherever you may be. Have a good rest of the day and enjoy this great Forum. Thank you, good‑bye.